1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an attachment device for mounting a glass pane fixedly at a structure, such as a building.
The invention also relates to a facade with attachment devices for mounting glass panes fixedly to a structure, such as a building.
This invention further relates to a punctiform holder (a holder having the form of a point), or an attachment device, to connect insulating glass panels that is used to connect at least two glass plates that are separated from each other by an air gap that is preferably filled with a gaseous medium, whereby the punctiform holder is detachably or non-detachably connected to a substructure.
2. Background of the Invention
A holder of this type that can be used as a punctiform holder that is free of bending moments for multiple-pane insulating glass panels is disclosed in German Utility Model 93 18 862. In that case, the punctiform holder is penetrated by borings that are inside the separated glass plates. For this purpose it is necessary, in the vicinity of the borings inside the separated glass plates, to hermetically seal the glass plates with respect to the closed air space that surrounds them. Simultaneously, these separating devices between the two glass plates are also required to withstand or provide the force of the connection of the insulating glass plates by the punctiform holder. Thus, on the one hand, one contact plate is in contact with the outer area of the separated glass plates, and, on the other hand, another contact plate is in contact with the inner area of the separated glass plates, which are pulled toward each other by means of a screw element. In the vicinity of the connection of the punctiform holder, the holder is equipped with a ball and thus is movable within the complementary surfaces of the inner plate such that a rotation of the holder unit with respect to the substructure is possible. It is thereby possible to partly compensate for corresponding construction tolerances. Because this punctiform holder, on otherwise conventional single-pane glass panels, extends through the separated glass plates, it is very complex, expensive and critical to ensure the long-term stability of the connection. In addition to the borings that have to be introduced, it is also important to permanently and securely seal the air gap between the separated plates.
German Patent 44 00 979 A1 also discloses a similar device on which the clamp element or locating bearing on the inside of the building has, on its shell surface facing the holder, a crown-shaped surface, against which a compensating part with a complementary universal ball joint with a crown-shaped surface is in contact. The clamping element has a boring that runs all the way through the clamping element to hold the clamp bolt that connects the clamp elements, and a retaining bolt that runs through a spacer washer and the compensating part and is screwed into the clamp element. With the device of the prior art, construction tolerances between the boring in the glass panel and the substructure (holder) can be compensated, but there is no flexible elastic support of the plate on the holder after the glass plate has been installed.
German Patent 44 45 724 A1 describes a similar device in which the clamp element on the inside of the building has, on its shell surface facing the mounting, a crowned surface, with which the complementary surface of a pivot bearing of a fastening part is in contact, whereby the pivot bearing is held with some lateral play in a cap nut. Here, too, after installation, no relative movement between the plate and the fastening part is possible.
European Patent 0 784 129 A1 further describes a support of a fastening bolt on a holder on which a plate of the holder is fixed between two plano-convex lenses that are in indirect contact, via their plane surfaces, with the plate, whereby one lens is in contact with its convex surface on a clamp element on the inside of the building and the other lens is in indirect contact with a nut that receives the fastening bolt.
The object of the invention is to simplify the prior art as described above to create a punctiform holder that can be manufactured economically for insulating glass panels. At the same time, the punctiform holder has a mounting that is essentially free of bending moments with a simultaneous compensation of tolerances with respect to the substructure.
Another object of the invention is to create a punctiform holder that can be manufactured economically for insulating glass panels, for example, glass panels to be utilized in a glass facade of a building.
The invention teaches that this object can be accomplished by a punctiform holder to connect insulating glass panels with at least two glass plates separated by an air gap that is preferably filled with a gaseous medium, and whereby the punctiform holder is also detachably or non-detachably connected to a substructure, characterized by the fact that the punctiform holder has a mounting element with a flat mounting surface which is detachably or non-detachably connected with an outside surface of the glass plates by adhesive and, in the air gap, in the vicinity of the punctiform holder, a spacer piece between the glass plates is also detachably or non-detachably connected with the glass plates by an adhesive. Further features of the invention are described herein.
The invention teaches that the borings that are conventionally present in the glass plates are omitted, and the detachable or non-detachable connection of the punctiform holder, which has a flat mounting surface, to one of the separated insulating glass plates, is formed by means of an adhesive. So that the weight of the insulating glass panel can also be supported securely by the punctiform holder even when there are two separated glass plates, in the air gap between the separated glass plates there is a spacer piece which is also detachably or non-detachably connected with the glass plates by an adhesive. This spacer piece can thereby be made of glass or metal. The adhesive used must be essentially UV-stable and preferably transparent. It must also have long-term creep stability with regard to the load-bearing characteristics. The proposed holder is also constructed so that it mounts the glass plates on a substructure in a manner that is free of bending moments. This concept also applies to the adhesive connection between the proposed holder and the insulating glass panel. The holder is therefore constructed so that it has an inside clamp element on its mounting surface that faces away from the glass plate in the form of a crown-shaped or curved surface formed by a permanently elastic flexible element, against which a complementary surface of an inner shell surface of a cap bell or coupling bell and a fastening bolt or attachment bolt can be placed in contact with an adjustable bias, whereby between the cap bell and the fastening bolt on one hand and the fastening bolt and the mounting on the other hand there are respective three-dimensional articulations that can be made rigid.
The invention teaches that wind pressure and thermal stresses are absorbed by the elastic support of the cap bell on the inside clamp element so that, even after installation, a relative movement of the two parts with respect to each other is possible without the introduction of restoring forces in the separated glass plates.
This capability is virtually guaranteed by the adjustable bias between the clamp element and the cap bell. As a result of the multiple subdivision of the fastening device by means of at least two additional three-dimensional articulations, not only is there an ability to compensate for rather large construction tolerances, but the individual articulation points of the three-dimensional articulations also form, even when they are rigidly clamped in place after installation, to a certain extent, junction points with a certain inherent elasticity which also contribute to the stress-free mounting of the glass plates.
In one embodiment of the invention, the inside clamp element itself can have a conical or crown-shaped surface on its shell facing away from the glass plate. Theoretically, the conical or crown-shaped surface can also be formed by the permanently elastic spring element even if the clamp element is flat. Furthermore, in the inside clamp element there can be a boring that connects the inside clamp element with the cap bell set screw, whereby, in one configuration of the invention, the permanently elastic spring element is realized in the form of a permanently elastic pad which is located between the conical or crown-shaped surface of an inside clamp element facing the mounting plate and the complementary surface of the cap bell. By means of the cap bell set screw described above, the permanently elastic pad can be biased so that not only can the stresses introduced in the glass plates be absorbed by the permanently elastic pad itself, but also a relative displacement of the cap bell, with respect to the permanently elastic pad, is possible, so that the glass plates and thus also the connection between the glass plates and the nut remain virtually completely stress-free.
One special characteristic of the invention is that the cap bell, on its side facing the holder, has a cylindrical extension that is provided with a male or external thread between which and the cap bell, in the vicinity of the bottom of the cap bell, there is an inwardly directed flange to support the bolt head of the cap bell set screw. The resulting play between the flange and a shank of the cap bell set screw thereby makes it possible to locate a washer that is realized in the form of a lens between the flange and the screw head of the cap bell set screw, so that the shank of the cap bell set screw can exert an oscillating or reciprocating movement with respect to the cap bell. This oscillating movement is facilitated if the contact surface of the flange and the matching surface of the lens are realized with a conical or crown shape. For this purpose, it has been found to be appropriate to use a non-metallic lens, for example, one that is made of a hard rubber that has a sliding capability. In this manner, an additional three-dimensional articulation can be practically created between the cap bell and the inside clamp element and thus the glass plates.
An additional three-dimensional articulation results from the fact that the end surface of the extension of the cap bell that points toward the holder can be curved in the shape of a concave lens, whereby a pot-like cap nut or union nut that is screwed over the male thread of the extension of the cap bell can have an inside bottom surface that is curved so that it is opposite to the curvature of the end surface of the extension of the cap bell. Between the end surface of the extension of the cap bell and the inside bottom surface of the cap nut, two plano-convex lenses can be mounted with their flat surfaces in contact with each other. By means of the cap nut described above, the three dimensional joint described above can be fixed in position and thus be made rigid after installation.
In one advantageous configuration of the invention, the piano-convex lens that is in contact with the inside bottom surface of the cap nut can be a component of a nut that holds the fastening screw, as a result of which it is possible to screw the fastening screw more or less deeply into the nut to shorten or lengthen the entire fastening device as necessary. To achieve the above-mentioned three-dimensional articulation, the shank of the nut can be sized so that it runs through a boring in the bottom of the cap nut with some clearance.
An additional three-dimensional articulation can be realized, in the manner of the prior art, in the vicinity of the direct connection of the fastening screw with the holder if the fastening screw runs through a boring in the holder with some clearance and the holder is fastened between a nut and a locknut, whereby, between the nut and the locknut on one hand and the structure on the other hand, there are respective plano-convex lenses with their respective flat surfaces in contact with the structure, and the nut and locknut have contact surfaces that are complementary to the lens. To further explain, one plano-convex lens can be positioned between a nut and a substructure and a second plano-convex lens can be positioned between a locknut and a substructure. In this case, too, it is a question of an adjustable and adaptable three-dimensional articulation during installation that can be made rigid and fixed into position after the installation has been completed, whereby a spacer sleeve can be provided between the three-dimensional articulation that forms the connection to the structure and the three-dimensional articulation that is formed by the cap bell and the cap nut.
The above-discussed embodiments of the present invention will be described further herein below. When the word xe2x80x9cinventionxe2x80x9d is used in this specification, the word xe2x80x9cinventionxe2x80x9d includes xe2x80x9cinventionsxe2x80x9d, that is, the plural of xe2x80x9cinventionxe2x80x9d. By stating xe2x80x9cinventionxe2x80x9d, the Applicant does not in any way admit that the present application does not include more than one patentably and non-obviously distinct invention, and maintains that this application may include more than one patentably and non-obviously distinct invention. The Applicant hereby asserts that the disclosure of this application may include more than one invention, and, in the event that there is more than one invention, that these inventions may be patentable and non-obvious one with respect to the other.